TCRI
"TCRI" is the 17th episode of Season 1 of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. It premiered on March 1st, 2013. "The Plot Thickens" Official Description While breaking into the hostile environment of TCRI headquarters upon being told of its location by Leatherhead, the Turtles discover the true intent of the Kraang: to open a portal to Dimension X and begin an all-out invasion. The Turtles resolve to stop them. Plot The episode begins with the Turtle Gang in the Patrol Buggy chasing after two Kraang-Droids in a helicopter. Donnie attempts to track the power cell the Kraang are carrying with his T-Phone, but the phone breaks during the chase and the Kraang escape. The Kraang, meanwhile, return to their base with the power cell and prepare to restore it to their dimensional portal. Leo decides they should talk to Leatherhead about the Kraang's power cell. They find him but he wakes up in a rage and Mikey has to talk him down. However, when they tell Leatherhead they lost the cell to the aliens, he freaks out again and grabs Donnie by the head. This time he is able to calm himself and but keeps hold of Donnie's face. The only clue Leatherhead can give them about where the Kraang could have taken the power cell is a drawing of a symbol. Donnie later recognizes the symbol used for the Kraang to operate under, and tracks that logo to the T.C.R.I. work center in Brooklyn. Back in the Lair, April shows the Turtles blueprints of the building. She reports that the bottom two thirds of it are normal offices where humans work, but top third of the building is blank. Which means that whatever they put in that spot, they did not want anyone to know about it.'' So that is where they need to get. The turtles plus Leatherhead smuggle themselves into the building hidden in a large box, with April disguised as a delivery person. Leatherhead fights off the Kraang-droids as the Turtles climb the elevator shaft to the upper floors. However, they have to fight even more Kraang-droids along the way, and by the time they reach their destination they are put down by knockout gas. When they recover, the Turtles are trapped in a tank supplying them oxygen in large room with the portal in front them, Kraang aliens are everywhere and the air is full of toxic gas. Donnie concludes that the gas is what the air must be like on the Kraang's world. While his brothers wonder why the Kraang would invade a planet they can't live on, Mikey surprises them with the answer: the Kraang want to mutate the Earth so that they can live there, killing everything else in the process. The Turtles hold their breath, Mikey pulls all of his limbs into his shell, and the others use him as a battering ram to break the tank. They retrieve their weapons and battle the Kraang. Luckily, they break a window, releasing all of the gas and hurry to the portal. However they arrive too late and the portal expels a giant, evil looking, rock monster called Traag from Dimension X. The Turtles are able outmaneuver him but have no way of putting him down for good. Donnie believes the explosives they brought would do it but then they would have no way to destroy the portal. Leo decides to do both at the same time. He is able to get the bomb onto Traag's back but has no plan of getting him into the portal. Just then, Leatherhead steps out of the elevator and roars a challenge to Traag. He grabs Traag by his feet and throws him towards the portal. Donnie detonates the bomb and the portal and Traag are engulfed in large explosion. However, when the dust clears, Traag is alive and the Portal is unharmed. The turtles are out of ideas but Leatherhead takes matters into his own hands, dragging Traag into the portal, calling a farewell to his friends as they both disappear back to Dimension X. Before the Turtles can shut the portal down, more Kraang surround them and they are forced to escape. Returning home to the lair, Leo reports that they've failed their mission and that Leatherhead is gone. However, Donnie finds vital information on a Kraang data drive Mikey picked up in TCRI. Master Splinter and April discuss why the Kraang need April's father so badly. It is revealed that April's dad is actually a psychologist. To everyone's shock, Donnie finds out from the data drive that the Kraang didn't need April's father at all. It's April that is the target. Splinter's Wisdom ''"Calm your mind and wait. You are Ninja. The word "Nin" means patience and perseverance." Character Debuts *Traag Trivia *Leatherhead returns in this episode and in the end goes through the portal to Dimension X. It is unknown on when he'll return. *This is the first episode where the Kraang's home dimension is called "Dimension X". *First appearance of Traag. *Mikey pulls not only his head, but all of his limbs into his shell for the first time in this episode. *When Mikey tries to wake up Leatherhead, he says "Wakey wakey, eggs and bakey", a line Greg Cipes also used as Beast Boy in Teen Titans. Except it was " Wakey wakey tofu eggs and bakey" *The Patrol Buggies are reversed in the start, unlike "Panic In The Sewers", they are different. *Leatherhead appears to recognize Traag, implying that he has encountered him before or that like the Kraang, there are more of his kind in Dimension X. *First appearance of the Kraang's headquarters. *This was the first time April and Leatherhead appeared in the same episode. *Another clue of the Kraang is revealed as it turns out that not only are they after scientists, but they're after April; NOT her father. *April's father is revealed to be a psychologist. *Splinter displays a type of rat like behavior stating he likes mazes. *The running gag of Leatherhead grabbing Donnie's head continues in this episode. *Leatherhead is the main character of the episode. *The main plot of the Kraang is revealed. *This is the first time that the Turtles break inside T.C.R.I building. *When Mikey is in front of the TV, he watches a show where a blue alien fights a green monster by shooting a beam of energy at it. This show bears a resemblance to Ultraman. This could be a possible reference to the fact that the franchise's previous incarnation, the 2003 series, shared a Saturday morning block with the US dub of Ultraman Tiga Gallery Mikey watches .png Category:Episodes Category:Season 1 Category:The Show